Fifth Chords
Let’s look at how to play an A flat 5 chord on the piano. We’ll also learn the pattern for building any other fifth chord.
What Are Fifth Chords?
Fifth chords aren’t technically chords, since the definition of a “chord” is “three or more notes sounded together”. But we’ll call them chords anyway since they’re treated like chords at the piano.
To play a fifth chord, we can play the first and fifth notes of the matching major scale.
Learn how to build a major scale here.
Another way to think of fifth chords is to play the lowest and highest notes of the matching major chord, leaving out the middle note (the third).
Chord Types Printable
Learn to play 17 types of piano chords using 12 different root notes with this 35-page PDF! Chords are sorted both by their root note and type.
How to Play an A flat 5 Chord on the Piano
So to play an A flat 5 chord, we’ll play the first and fifth notes of the A flat major scale:
A♭ – E♭
We can use this pattern to build any other fifth chord, by playing the first and fifth notes of the matching major scale!
Other Chord Types
Some of the other chord types you can learn are:
Major
Minor
Augmented
Diminished
Second
Minor Second
Suspended
Sixth
Minor Sixth
Seventh
Minor Seventh
Major Seventh
Ninth
Minor Ninth
Major Ninth
Conclusion
That’s it! Now you know how to play an A flat 5 chord on the piano, and you can use that knowledge to build any other fifth chord.
Using piano chords to learn and play the piano is a wonderful way to enjoy music and be creative!
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